Natalia Kaliada

Natalia Kaliada is a co-founder and artistic director of Belarus Free Theatre, an underground theatre group formed in response to the severe censorship and repression of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, the last dictatorship in Europe. Since its founding in 2005, Belarus Free Theatre has performed provocative plays (often held secretly) that focus on the consequences of state repression and its accompanying culture of fear. The group has repeatedly endured harassment from Belarusian authorities. During post-election protests that swept across Belarus in December 2010, Kaliada and her husband were beaten and arrested by security forces in a brutal crackdown on the Belarusian opposition. After being released, they were forced into exile and sought political asylum in the United Kingdom.